words can't bring us down
by king.needlemouse
Summary: High school is already hard enough. It's even harder when you've got dyslexia.


**this fic is a little special, bc it's a birthday present for one of my best pals, tekina fiction! i gotta say, bro, i never would've thought leaving that one review on your fanfic almost a year ago would've led me here, being one of your best friends. but here we are, and now you're stuck with me ;) hope you enjoy this!**

 **warning for minor swearing, and bullying/very minor violence**

* * *

As Silver takes his first step onto his new high school campus, for the start of a new year, where he'll take new classes and meet new people and live through new experiences, he nearly turns around and leaves. Because this is the last place he wants to be right now, and he still can't figure out how the hell his mom convinced him to attend public school.

He'd liked homeschooling. Loved it, even.

 _(Sure, nobody really_ loves _school, per se, but it was still pretty nice.)_

When he was homeschooled, he got to go at his own pace. He got to wake up at ten, and have his mom help him with assignments, and get a much more individualized education overall. His mom understood how he learned things, understood that reading wasn't exactly his thing, understood that he was _smart—_ just a little different.

And, really, he couldn't blame her. She got hired at that fancy new company, the one that gave her the car magnet and the gift basket on her first day, and had that lady at the front desk that wouldn't stop rattling on about _'how handsome your son is.'_ It was a nice company; and it sure as hell paid a lot more than her last job.

But it also meant she no longer had time to home-school him. And, in her defense, she _did_ feel guilty.

"I know it's going to be a little tough," she had said, "but you're going to be able to handle it. You're a smart kid. And we can talk to the teachers about the dyslexia—I'm sure they'll be accommodating.

"Plus, now you can make new friends! You can get that authentic, _high school experience,_ right?"

He gazes out into the sea of teenagers swarming the courtyard. While he does, he observes stupid senior boys rough-housing and shoving each other into bushes, posh sophomore girls telling one another off in some drama-enriched squabble, and even a couple nerdy freshmen dumping their spoiled (school issued, might he add) milk bottles on the ground and giggling to themselves at how gross it looks. And Silver thinks to himself, _yeah, I think I'll pass._

And then the first bell rings, and he realizes it's already too late to back out, now.

* * *

The first week breezes by, and surprisingly enough, it's not too bad. He's able to keep his head low and blend in with the crowd, and quickly earn himself the _quiet kid_ reputation in his classes. Sometimes he struggles to keep up when his teachers expect him to read along in the textbook while they lecture it, or he takes a couple minutes to decipher what's written on the whiteboard, but he gets by.

His mom held a meeting with his counselor already, and emailed all of his instructors about his dyslexia, so he's not terribly worried about being forced to give a speech or read a whole chapter out loud any time soon. He figures if he just stays quiet enough, he might survive the school year.

 _You're a smart kid. You can handle it._

(He has to remind himself this a lot. Sometimes he finds himself forced to reread the homework ten times over just to understand the instructions, and it's hard to remember that he _is_ smart, that he _can_ handle this, that he _doesn't_ need to drop into a lower level class.)

The ivory hedgehog settles into his seat in his first period of the day, in the second week of school. It's English class, and he figures that it'll probably come back to bite him later in the year that he's taking a class all about reading at the earliest time possible, but he doesn't care enough to try and get his schedule changed at this point. He'll deal with it. He has to.

The late bell rings just as three boys scramble into class, rambunctious and laughing and obnoxious. Ms. Evans, the teacher—who's some sort of Siamese cat, with narrow amber eyes and thick wireframes sitting on her muzzle—rolls her eyes at them.

"Take your seats, everybody," she snaps, and verbally, it isn't directed at anyone in particular, but there's a hyper-awareness in the air that she's talking to the three rowdy boys.

It's an echidna, a hawk, and a hedgehog. They're all tightly-knit friends, along with the rest of the football team, and everyone and their mother knows that team is inseparable. Where there's one football player, there's bound to be more.

The trio takes their seats, and Silver finds himself spacing out for a second, watching them curiously. They sit in an upside-down 'L' formation, with the bird and the hedgehog side by side, whispering to each other and chuckling, and the echidna behind them, his feet kicked up on the desk.

Silver's never personally met them before, or any of the football team for that matter, but he still _knows_ them. The echidna is Knuckles, perhaps the most intimidating; he's the captain of the team and the epitome of a jock. Admittedly, he doesn't know the bird's name—just that his feathers are _definitely_ not naturally that tacky neon green color, and that his voice is like nails on a chalkboard. The hedgehog's name is Sonic, and while he's not the captain of the team, he certainly is one of the most popular kids in school; funny, talented, perfect.

And despite having never met them, if Silver's learned anything from witnessing the way they stampede down the hallways, and steal kids' sodas at lunch, it's that he's gotta _stay away._

The red one, Knuckles, suddenly catches him staring, and teasingly winks seductively at him before snorting and facing forwards again. Silver feels his face grow hot—because of course that's what Knuckles does, he messes with people because he's _better_ than them—and slinks down in his chair.

"Right then, class," Ms. Evans begins as all the students are finally seated, "Today's going to be a bit of a busy-work day." The cat is completely fixated on some paperwork as she speaks. "Open up your books to chapter three, and, um…" she pauses to wave her pencil around in the air, still not really paying attention to the classroom, " _Silver,_ why don't you start reading the opening paragraph."

And his heart skips a beat, because fuck, he can't do that. How's he supposed to read an _entire paragraph_ out loud, with the pressure of the entire class listening to him, when he can barely piece together a single sentence on his own?

In hopes that this is just a mistake, Silver fires a desperate look the teacher's way, praying that she'll catch his eye and fix her error. Because his mom sent out emails. His teachers _know_ they can't do stuff like this.

But Ms. Evans never looks up from her paper. Instead, after a few beats of silence permeate the room, she clears her throat and barks, " _Mr. Silver,_ start reading. I'm having a long day, and I _don't_ have time for this."

He can feel the color draining from his face, as a few kids turn in confusion to look at him. Their gazes feel like they're burning into his skull.

Silver clears his throat, and peers down nervously at the paragraph he's supposed to read. It's okay. He—he can do this, _right?_ He's a smart kid. He can handle it.

"Um…" he says, as he forces his vocal chords to start working. His palms feel sweaty beneath his gloves, and all he can think about is _going home._ He squints at the first sentence, already jumbling up the letters. "… W-Western Spa—" he falters, trying to decipher the word. He's especially bad with 'U's and 'A's, and 'G's and 'P's and 'Q's. "—Spa-poh—no, wait, sorry…"

 _Spagonia,_ his mind finally provides, and he inwardly sighs a little in relief.

"… Spagonia, wooh— _was_ fl… f-first cal—uh, cal… cal-am…"

His hands are shaking a little, and his mind is whirling. _What is that word?! What does it say?! Why can't he just—_

"Mr. Silver," Ms. Evans suddenly interjects, and _thank Chaos._ He looks up at her, to see her hold up a hand in silence, looking just a _little_ bit mortified. It seems like hearing him actually attempt to read jogged her memory, finally. "That's enough, sorry about that. Ah—Ms. Rose, can you start again at the top of that paragraph?"

He's finally able to breathe a little, and let go of some of the tension in his shoulders. Some kids are staring at him, but most of them return their attention back to the book as that other girl starts reading.

 _Most._

Silver can still feel three pairs of eyes—those boys—glued onto him, and he hesitantly looks over at them. The bird and Knuckles are both grinning mischievously at him, and his heart just sinks. But then he meets Sonic's eyes, and he… Can't really tell what the azure hedgehog is thinking. His brows are raised, almost in shock, but his expression is overall neutral. It's a bit unnerving, and Silver breaks away from their little staring contest first.

" _Boys!_ " the teacher abruptly hisses from her desk, "Face forward and pay attention."

The trio of football players begrudgingly turn back around at their own rates, and although they're no longer staring at him, Silver still can't shake the bad feeling swelling up in his gut.

* * *

There's this raw anger bubbling up from the pit of his stomach, and he doesn't bother to keep it down. Ms. Evans had given him a hushed apology after class about the whole incident, but it was already too late and it was insincere, anyways; she was still too absorbed in her work to even look him in the eye while she said it.

Even if she had been sincere, it didn't make much difference to him. He humiliated himself back there. And now everybody is gonna think he's stupid or something, but he's _not,_ he's really smart, he just—he can't _read_ that well.

So much for the school year starting out well.

Silver pries open his locker a little too violently, and he's sure he's making a bit of a scene, but he's so upset he just can't bother to care. He shoves the stupid book he'd had to read back into the compartment, before yanking out two, much more sizeable textbooks.

" _Colonized._ "

The hedgehog flinches at how loud the voice is over the roar of the bustling corridor, and how close it is to his ear. He turns to see Knuckles _(oh, great)_ smirking at him, a film of laziness over his amethyst eyes.

When his mind finally catches up to speed and he mulls over the single word the echidna had said, the only response he can conjure is, "What?"

The bird guy is here too, plus a crocodile (Victor, or something, right?) and an armadillo he's never seen before. Sonic's here as well, but his face is still strangely blank and almost irritated, as opposed to the other boys' nasty grins.

"The word you couldn't say, back in class," Knuckles explains, still grinning cheekily. "It was _colonized._ "

 _Oh._

All of Silver's rage ebbs away, and he's left with nothing but this icy feeling clenching his heart, sending stabs of pain into his chest. All he wants to do now is curl up and hide from the rest of the world.

In the midst of his mental panic, he doesn't realize the hawk has already snagged his textbooks right from him. Silver desperately grabs back for them, but the bird just snickers and dangles them up higher.

Eyeing them curiously, the hawk squawks, "Just how dense are ya'? How'd you even get into honors classes if you can barely read?!"

Despite himself, the ivory teenager feels his face redden, and he continues in his fruitless efforts to try and take back the textbooks.

"I—I'm not stupid!" he retorts, but it feels like he's just making it worse, like he just sounds like a whiny little kid, and he's only adding fuel to the fire.

Knuckles scoffs, and lightly shoves him into the wall of lockers behind him. It doesn't hurt him too bad, but Silver's heart still plunges as it starts to set in that _he is not safe and he needs to get out._

"Bro, you're fucking illiterate. You're literally the _definition_ of stupid," the echidna sneers.

At this point they're all swarmed around him and he can't escape, they're all laughing and waving his textbooks in his face like this is some kind of game. Fuck, all he just wants to go home, it's all he can think about, he just needs to go home and start being homeschooled again because he can't—

"Okay, guys, that's enough."

Suddenly a certain blue hedgehog is pushing past the circle of football players, and he yanks the books that the hawk is still dangling in the air with enmity. It's Sonic. For some reason, Sonic is actually standing up for him, telling his own friends to back off. Silver still isn't sure he can trust him. He remains wary.

The cerulean teenager glowers at the bird, which instantly wipes the grin off his face, before turning to kindly hand the books back to Silver. He accepts them skeptically, but can't find any words.

Sonic then whips back around, waving his friends away with a glower. "Just go fuck off guys, honestly."

Knuckles quirks a brow in challenge, and for a moment the two boys just lock eyes. They say no words, but Silver can see the smoldering fires dancing behind emeralds and amethysts, and can tell they're waging a silent battle of dominance. Eventually, after Sonic shows no signs of backing down, the echidna breaks into a clipped laugh and takes a step back.

"Alright, geez, we were just messing around. No need to be an asshole."

The armadillo and crocodile look at the crimson mobian in a stunned silence, before Knuckles starts walking away, and they follow after him like his shadows. The hawk cackles, slapping Sonic a little too hard on the back and quipping, "see you at practice, bud," before taking off after the others. The azure hedgehog stays behind, and it only makes Silver more tense.

After watching them go, Sonic turns back to face the alabaster teenager, suddenly dawning a gentle smile. "I don't think you're stupid."

Silver just narrows his eyes, hugging his textbooks closer to his chest. For all he knows, the guy just shooed his pals away so he could get him to himself and beat him up, or something."… Thanks."

"No, really, I—" the football player sighs, placing his hands on his hips. "It's some kind of learning disability, right? Why you can't read?"

Honey eyes falling to his shoes, Silver can't find any reason to hide it anymore. "I have dyslexia."

Silence passes between the two for a couple seconds, and the ivory teenager almost just leaves.

"… Y'know, I have ADHD."

Silver raises a brow, peering back up. Sonic looks surprisingly vulnerable as he stands there; somehow, he's still smiling.

"Really?" he asks, a little in disbelief.

The azure boy laughs. "Well, yeah. Do ya' need me to go find my prescription for the meds I'm taking to prove it to you?"

He can't suppress the twitch at the corner of his lips, and clearly Sonic notices it, because his smile widens. The athlete places a gentle hand on his shoulder, emerald eyes soft and genuine.

"Look, I used to be like you. Kids would call me too jumpy, and my teachers used to yell at me all the time for being too fidgety," Sonic admits, his voice tender and low. "And all the times I space out in class? It's not 'cause I'm bored or anything—I mean, I kinda am—but it's also just hard for me to focus."

Silver frowns. "So… What changed? How come nobody makes fun of you anymore?"

"Well," the other continues with a shrug, "For one, I put myself out there. Joined the football team and made some friends. But I also just ignored it. See, if you just don't let them get to you, don't give them the reactions they want, eventually they'll back off."

With that, Sonic tosses his backpack over his shoulder, and starts walking in the direction Knuckles and the others took off in. Over his shoulder, he hollers, "I know you're a cool guy, Silv! You just gotta prove it to 'em!"

All Silver can do is stand there, dumbfounded, and nod.

* * *

The next incident doesn't occur for another month. His teachers are clearly all aware of his dyslexia, particularly Ms. Evans after her mistake, and are wary of putting him on the spot like that. Until today, that is.

They have a substitute in math. And normally this isn't a problem, because all of his teachers are sure to leave a note for the substitute that he has reading comprehension issues, that the substitute needs to be aware of it. Mr. Griffin, the regular math teacher, normally does so for other substitutes. He's a very organized teacher, and always leaves a sizeable stack of notes for every proxy instructor when needed.

But, clearly, this substitute wasn't in the mood to read all of the notes. Clearly, Silver's screwed.

Her name is Mrs. Barker, and everybody in class quickly comes to learn that she's not exactly the nicest person. She's some sort of lizard, with violent yellow streaks that run down her lithe, obsidian scales. Her eyes are constantly slits, like she's always searching for ways to make students' lives even more miserable.

Silver thinks, maybe, she's got a reputation around the school. But he still tries to avoid as much social interaction as possible with the student body, so technically, he can't say for sure if she's the same substitute that once handed out fifty-eight detentions in one day, and once threw a pencil at a student's head. _He's got a hunch, though._

As the second bell rings, and Sonic comes scurrying through the door by the skin of his teeth, along with his crocodile friend, the ivory hedgehog already knows today isn't his day. Because, while Mrs. Barker scolds the boys, he gets this sinking feeling in his chest that he never actually packed his homework from last night in his bag.

Frantically, Silver pulls his backpack into his lap, and begins rummaging through it. He flips through countless sheets of paperwork, digs around at the bottom of his bag, but can't find the worksheet from the other night. Vaguely, he thinks he can hear the teacher beginning to give instructions for the day, but he's too frazzled to pay much attention.

And then, suddenly, the lizard snarls, " _You, there_ —white hedgehog."

Silver's head snaps up instantly, a fog of confusion drifting through his mind because _fuck, he wasn't paying attention, he'd just been looking for his homework—_

"How about _you_ read number one?" she says in a saccharine voice, because he knows it isn't a question, if the fire dancing in her eyes is anything to go off of.

He looks down at his textbook, already opened up on his desk, and tries to find the question she ordered him to read. But, dammit, the numbers are all mixed up and he can't even tell what he's supposed to be looking for. Helplessly, the teenager casts her a desperate look, trying valiantly to fight the heat rising up his neck. He can feel his classmates staring at him, can hear their hushed snickers.

"Well?" the lizard wonders, impartially, with a raised brow. Silver can't find his words.

Apparently, though, he doesn't have to. Some kid in the back of the classroom pipes up, "He can't read it, Miss. He's, like, stupid or something."

Everything becomes cold, and suddenly he can't breathe.

"M—Ma'am," Silver mutters, already standing up and starting towards the door. His throat is closing up and his eyes burn with tears threatening to prick through and he just needs to go home. "Ma'am I need to use the restroom, I-I—"

" _Excuse_ me! Get back here, right now!"

But he can't, he has to leave, he can't be seen like this. Maybe he can call his mom, he can just leave this stupid school, because he can't take this anymore, they all just think he's stupid, and he's not stupid, he just can't—he can't—

Silver rushes out the door and heads right towards the bathroom, barely stifling a sob tumbling from his lips, at the echoes of cruel laughter from the classroom cascading down the hallway.

* * *

Hastily thumbing tears from his misty eyes, he stumbles into the bathroom and makes his way to the sink. He plants his hands on the rim of it, turning on the faucet and splashing his face with the lukewarm water. It's hard to suppress his whimpers.

He's so lost in his thoughts, of how mortified he is, how he can't stay at this school anymore, how he's been utterly humiliated, how _he can't take this anymore—_ that he doesn't even notice someone's entered the bathroom until a hand eases onto his shoulder.

Silver jumps a little, hissing through his teeth and wiping more at his tears, before looking up in the mirror to see a certain blue hedgehog standing beside him.

"What do you want from me?" the dyslexic asks, bitterly. Sonic's gentle smile doesn't waver, despite how hostile Silver sounds.

"I thought you could use a friend."

The ivory hedgehog whips around to face the other, eyes burning from the dry air. "Why do you want to be _my_ friend? You're—you're the most popular kid in the school, why do you—"

The football player frowns a little, squeezing his shoulder. "I told ya' already. I've been where you are. I know what it feels like to be bullied for being a little different. And… I know you aren't really in any clubs, or anything, which is how _I_ finally made friends, so."

Silver sniffles, and mentally, he grimaces at how pathetic he probably looks. "So you want to be my friend out of pity."

"No!" Sonic exclaims in surprise. He chuckles a little, somewhat blasé and somewhat nervous. "Not at all, man. You seem like a cool dude, is all, and nobody's given you the chance so far to prove it. I wanna be the person that does."

He can't really conjure up an intelligent response to that, so all he can do is stare at his feet and lamely say, "Oh."

"Here," the azure teenager says, holding up a tissue. Silver laughs drily but accepts it, blowing his runny nose and dabbing his eyes. "… Hey, um, if you want—practice is cancelled today, 'cause of the weather, so, uh, would ya' wanna come over today?"

Some foreign feeling ripples across the new student's mind, and he can't help but smile, genuinely and giddily. "Um… Yeah, that'd be nice."

"Cool! I walk home, so just meet me at the front gate after school, yeah?"

Silver's mind is a whirlwind of emotions right now, but for the first time in weeks, he feels almost relieved. "Sure."

* * *

The doubts start to seep into his head as the day progresses. By the last period of the day, he can't focus on his teacher's words; all he can think about is whether what happened earlier was even real.

It was a strange concept to wrap his mind around: Sonic the Hedgehog, the jock of the school, who had friends that had harassed him only a few weeks ago, had invited him to hang out with him after school. He'd never really… been invited to hang out with anybody, ever—let alone with a relatively popular kid. Sure, there were those times where he got together with some childhood friends, but those felt too forced, and he only knew those kids because their parents were all buddies.

Between being homeschooled all his life, and not interacting with anybody so far this year, Silver never really had any good friends to hang out with. _So why should this time be any different?_

Regardless, the final bell rings and the hedgehog finds his feet dragging him to his locker, and then taking him to the front gates, where he'd supposedly meet Sonic. The fear starts to settle in, now, as he weaves through the mob of students taking their leave.

What if this is all some joke? What if he gets to the gates, only to be ambushed by the whole football team, and be belittled and mocked? What if Sonic had decided he didn't want to be seen with someone like him, and bailed?

Silver sighs a bit (in relief?) when he sees the football player right where they're supposed to meet, leaning against the wire fence.

Sonic doesn't notice him at first. He's jittery, tapping his foot relentlessly and fiddling with his cell phone. Silver's sort of noticed over the past month how he gets like that sometimes, in class; always bouncing his leg, or tapping his pencil, or just about anything else.

He approaches the cerulean teenager warily, and has to quip a small, "hey," to get his attention.

Jumping at the sound of his voice, the athlete pockets his phone and peers up at him. A lax smile spreads across his face. "Hey," he returns, "Took ya' long enough."

Silver shrugs, and he hopes he's coming off nonchalant. "I had to stop at my locker."

"It's no problem," Sonic assures, grabbing the straps on his backpack. "Ready?"

"… Yeah."

For the first five or so minutes of their walk, the tension is thick and the silence is drowning. Silver finds that he still can't shake the anxiety building in his chest that this is all just a trap, that Knuckles and that stupid bird are gonna pop out of nowhere and beat him up. And it's irrational, he knows. Sonic's been consistently nice to him, always stepping in and making sure he's okay.

Something in the back of his head prompts the suggestion that this has all been a ploy. That Sonic's been in on it with his other friends, and that he's leading him right into a trap, where they'll mercilessly humiliate him. This primal, fight-or-flight feeling in his gut kicks in, and suddenly all he can think about is running away.

"I hope you aren't allergic to dogs," the azure hedgehog says, suddenly. It jars Silver from his thoughts, and he finds himself staring strangely at the other boy.

"… Dogs?"

Sonic laughs a little. "Yeah. I've got one; his name's Muttski. He's super sweet, though, and he loves it when you rub his belly."

Silver blinks. The panic starts to subside. "Oh. Um, no, I'm not allergic."

"Cool," the other grins, as they turn into a neighborhood. "Also, I texted my mom to make us some mac n' cheese. Hope you don't mind."

His brain is sort of stalling. "… N—Yeah, I like mac n' cheese."

They start heading up a driveway, and Sonic pulls out a key to unlock the door. As it swings open, Silver is met with a slightly disheveled living room, with a muted soccer game on the television and only a couple dim lamps to light up the large space. It's not the classiest house he's ever seen, but there's something about it that makes it look comfy and hospitable—and he's sure that the wafting aroma of cheddar cheese coming from the kitchen is doing wonders for that.

The boys step inside and Sonic closes the door behind them. Suddenly, a mutt with copper fur comes swerving around the corner, lunging right for the blue hedgehog and tackling him to the ground. The dog—Muttski, Silver assumes—smothers Sonic with kisses, and in turn the teenager giggles and scratches his neck and ears. The sight is a little heartwarming to see; tender.

Eventually, the azure teen manages to get his pet to move off of him, and stands back up with a sheepish chuckle. "He, uh—he's just excited."

Silver raises an amused brow, allowing just the faintest smile to pull at his lips. "Apparently."

"Hey, kids!" a female voice calls from the kitchen, presumably Sonic's mom, "Mac n' cheese is ready, if you're hungry!"

"Thanks, ma!" the athlete replies, slipping off his backpack. He tosses it on the chair, and tells Silver he can do the same.

They head into the kitchen, and the ivory hedgehog is delighted to meet Sonic's mother; she's talkative, asking all about their school days, and even asks Silver if he's been enjoying the school year so far. Not wanting to start anything, he assures her it's been going fine. She exchanges a few quips with her son, gives them each a bowl of cheesy pasta, and ushers them off to Sonic's room with a light, contagious laughter.

"She's nice," Silver remarks, before taking his first bite, as they each settle onto a bean bag in the other's bedroom. The mac n' cheese is warm, and gooey, and he can't help but dive in for another bite.

Sonic chuckles. "She was real excited to hear I had a new friend coming over. She's not the biggest fan of Knux and the others…"

"Why do you hang out with them, anyways?" he can't help but ask. Instantly, the dyslexic feels his face flush red, and he stammers, "Sorry, I, uh. I didn't mean to—"

"No, it's okay." The cerulean teenager pauses to contemplate, a slight frown marring his face as he chews slowly. "… I—I know they can be real jerks, sometimes. But, they still took me in, back when I first joined the football team. They're sorta like brothers to me, now: they can be total assholes, sometimes, but I love 'em anyways."

Silver stares down at the carpet, unsure what to make of that.

Sonic sets his bowl down in his lap, emerald eyes glistening in sincerity. "Hey, I'll tell ya' what. As long as you stick with me, I'll make sure they don't bug you. They'll have to go through me, first."

A smile finds its way to his face, despite himself. "Thanks," the alabaster teen replies. "But, what about all the other kids? Surely I'm not the only one they bother?"

The football player shrugs, deflated. "I guess you're right." He stares up at Silver with a defiant smirk and a clever glint in his bright eyes. "I'll give 'em a talk, tomorrow at school. See if I can get 'em to chill out once and for all. Yeah?"

"That'd be… Really cool of you, Sonic."

He isn't sure how, but the rest of the afternoon, he feels safe and has fun. They talk, and work on homework together, and play games. It stirs this dormant feeling Silver didn't even realize he had, deep in his heart, that makes him wish he could come over to Sonic's house every day, and just have fun without worrying about stupid bullies or dyslexia.

Besides, their mac n' cheese is amazing.

* * *

 **and there's some sonic and silver bullying-recovery fluff, as per your request :) happy birthday, bud. love ya lots**

 **also! sorry knuckles & co are a little ooc, it just worked out that way for Story Purposes. and disclaimer, i don't have dyslexia or adhd, so i apologize if i got some stuff wrong. i did do some research, though, so hopefully it's okay!**

 _ **(hhh anyways now i gotta get back to my other projects,,,,)**_

 **r &r!**


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